Over and Over Again
by ruiiko
Summary: Robin still has periodic dreams, over the death of his parents. Nobody knows about this, except Wally. To add to it, Robin rarely, if ever talks about the things that bother him. And he doesn't cry. When things are really bothering him, at the most, he's just really quiet. These are the days that Wally worries about him the most.


**I'm actually really proud of this one. :) This was fun to write. Also kinda wanted to do something with Dick and Wally just being friends in a super cute and fluffy way, without really shipping them. So, hope you all enjoy!**

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><p><em>That was it. <em>

_It was over._

_In just a nick of a few moments, his whole world, his whole life was being crushed before his eyes. _

_"Mom! Dad!" He screamed in agony, watching as the trapese rope snaps, and his parents fall to their death, as they scream out eachothers names. Faces flash before him, those of those damned gangsters who were responsible for his parents death. Tony Zucco. His parents, the looks of horror on their faces. _

_God, those faces._

_He could never get those looks out of his mind._

_And then he was alone. _

_The circus was gone-and he was in a very dark place. The male looked around in confusion, and let out a gasp as a whirl of faceless people were now surronding him, looking down on him. "It's your fault," They whispered. There wear screams. There was weeping. They were cornering him now, closing in on him, reaching out to grab him. He squeezed his eyes shut, screaming out "Stop!" But it was in-audible. _

_Black turned to blood red, as fire danced around him, the moon shining down on his body. Faces of the gangsters, of Tony Zucco surronded him, spinning around him as they laughed and smirked, looking high and mighty._

_They dissapeared._

_Batman's face appeared before his. His dark and gruffy voice told him there was still hope, that these men could still be brought to justice._

_He dissapeared, as well._

_Memories of the years after the accident passed by him. Being taken in by the Bat, being trained ruthlessly, and of course, the moment of victory-Zucco and his men being brought to justice. _

_Memories of his team, the team of 'side-kicks', his friends, his new family, all of which he had grown to love and care for. All the adventures they had been through, all the times they had been put in danger, the times they could have been killed, but weren't. All the villains they brought to justice, many nights savaginng the dark streets of Gotham. Even the fun times, where the team had gotten to kick back and relax, enjoying time together as a family. Beach outings, dinners, parties, love, laughter, joy, pain, sadness, comfort-all aspects of every emotion, everything they had ever done together-Dick smiled._

_But that smile faultered, as those memories slipped away, and he was now facing the lifeless forms of his friends. _

_Pale. _

_Eyes closed. _

_Bloodied. _

_He watched as their bodies slowly disintigrated into nothing, and he was back, surronded by black. _

_He heard sinister chuckling, and was being faced by Zucco again. Only, his skin was falling off, rotting, melting. Yet, his speech was perfect, as he whispered out, "You're next", and-_

"Robin! Get up!"

The boy wonder woke up from the nightmare, covered in sweat, breathing in heavily. He looked around, to find that he was laying in bed, in his room. Sun was filtering in through his curtains, and when he looked over to his clock, red numbers flashed '12:30'. He could hear his team members talking outside, getting ready for what was presumably a new mission. He heard the voice of his best friend calling for him at his door, before his feet tapped against the floor and he was running off to join the rest of the team.

Robin was still trying to get a grip on reality. His breathe was shaky, his vision was still blurred, his head was pounding, his stomache was turning. The air in this room felt too cold, and he was visably shaking through his blankets. The boy wonder pulled off his sheets, getting a balance on the floor as he stood, using the wall for support. He felt dizzy, and was still un-sure if he was still dreaming. He grabbed at his arms, feeling around to make sure he was still in once peice, to be sure that he was still here. So far so good-and he reached up to feel his face in desperation, quickly rushing to the bathroom of his room. He glared hard in the mirror, glad that he could still feel skin on his face.

He was still there.

This was no dream.

He let out a sigh of relief, forcing a smile at his reflection, as he splashed water on his face. "It's okay," He re-assured himself. "It was just a dream."

This wasn't the first dream he had had, though.

No, this was a re-occuring dream that came in variatiens. But it always stayed in the same context: always seeing his parents fall to their death, always being reminded that those men could have gotten away with what they were doing, if it hadn't been for Batman.

Granted, Dick Grayson was in a better place now, but there were times were these dreams had a great effect on him.

Much like today.

He still felt shook.

He couldn't shake the feeling of sadness that took over him, whenever he remembered his parents.

Forever gone...

"Damnit." Dick cursed to himself, clenching his fist together. He glared into his reflection once again, before departing from the bathroom to get ready for the day. However so, as he pulled his outfit out from his drawers, he paused, noticing the red marks on his calender. He squinted his eyes at the day that hadn't been marked-today. And that's when it hit him.

Today would be the 5th year anniversary of his parents death.

"Great." He frowned. He felt more tired than ever, and this didn't help in the least.

"Robin!" He heard the voice of Kid Flash again, only this time the voice was coming from behind the boy wonder. He gasped slightly, turning to see the smirk on his best pal's face.

"You're not ready yet? Dude. It's 12:30, you never sleep in this late!" He laughed a little.

Robin stared back at him for a moment, bewildered that he had managed to get in his room without him even noticing. He blinked himself out of his shocked state, coming to his senses. "Uh, I'll be right there!" He forced a smile.

Kid Flash, however, raised a brow. "Uh... you okay, Rob? You seem kinda out of it."

Robin nodded frantically. "Yeah, i'm good, just had a rough night last night!" He insisted.

His friend shrugged. "If you say so..." And he turned his back to go re-join the others. But just before he exited the room, he paused, looking over his shoulder. "...Hey man, I'll always be here for you, okay?"

Robin glanced over to him, raisining a brow in confusion.

Wally just shook his head. "Just letting you know. That's what best friends are for!" And with tha, he zipped out of his room, leaving Robin alone with his thoughts, once again. Deep down, the boy wonder was mortified.

Wally was his best friend. That boy knew everything about him, probably better than Robin even knew himself! He knew everything about him, down to the fact that his parents had passed on in such a tragic way, he knew that that circus held such a special place in his heart-things that the rest of the team wouldn't know-things that not even people like Batman would know.

And that's what terrified Robin. The fact that he might just know that he wasn't okay today.

Robin felt shivers run down his spine at the thought, but despite this, he tried to shake off the feeling of anxiety, as he began to pull on his outfit. Today would be a long day...

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><p>Throughout the entire meeting, Wally kept a close eye on Robin.<p>

He was quiet, today.

Really quiet.

Usuaully, Robin would the first one to crack up if Artemis had yelled at Wally, or he had slipped up. He would comment some smart remark with that signature laughter of his, but today, he seemed stiffer than usual. He didn't comment on anything Batman said over the transmitter, didn't try to gain any information on the mission today. No, he left Kaldur to do the talking. Which would make sense, seeing as fish boy was the team leader, but Robin was Batman's own protoge. He was always the first to ask questions, to take actions.

But no.

He stood still in his place, looking on. Stiff, hard as a rock he stood. And though his eyes were masked, Wally could just see the pain behind them, and he knew.

He kner, even without words, that something was bothering the bird.

Robin rarely, if ever talked about things that were bothering him.

And he didn't cry.

When things really bothered him, at the most, he was quiet.

Very quiet.

Those are the days, much like today, right now, in which Wally worried about him the most.

The speedster closed his eyes for a moment, trying to regain himself. Poor Rob-he had been through so much, more than what a normal 13 year old should be going through. Wally could sympathise with him-though he didn't know the exact pain he could be feeling over the loss of his parents-he, himself couldn't imagine losing his parents. But Robin stuck it out! Most days he looked like he was on top of the world, always having some sort of mischief up his sleeve, but there were days when he was just quiet, and kept to himself.

Wally hated those days.

He hated seeing his best friend go through so much, not knowing what he could do to help him.

During those times, it usually just helped to leave the boy wonder alone, but Wally wished, oh god _how he wished, _that he could be able to do something to help him. If something as simple as a hug could suffice the comfort for his friend, anything was better than just letting him suffer alone. However, during those times, Robin never let anyone in. Not himself, not Batman, nobody.

He was alone.

Atleast, that's the way he liked to keep it, but Wally could always see right through him.

Despite what he said, underneath trying to keep up the courageous and strong act, he really did need someone, in times of depseration.

"Alright team, move out."

Wally watched as Robin was snapped from his thoughts, enough to bring himself together to be able to move, but Wally quickly stopped him, as soon as the rest of the team had moved on, already, leaving the two boys alone in the room.

"Hey! Come on, we've got to go." Robin pushed Wally's hand that gripped his shoulder away, trying to run past him, but the speedster shook his head, getting infront of him to put both hands on his shoulder. Robin stopped quickly, as he stared into Wally's eyes.

"Something's bothering you." He simply stated. Actually, he knew just what was bothering the bird, but he didn't want to be so straight-forward.

"There's no time for this, KF, we've gotta go." He insisted, pushing past him again to try and catch up with the rest of the team.

Luckily Wally was so fast, he zipped infront of the bird once again to grab him. "No, I think we should confront what's bothering you, first." He said firmly, yet gently.

Robin shook his eyes. "D-doesn't matter right now. Let's go." He stuttered, trying to get past his friend, but he tripped slightly, beginning to fall, but Wally caught him. The bird shuddered at the feeling of his arms wrapping around him, and began to thrash violently, squirming un-comfortably. "Let go of me!" He demanded, but Wally refused, instead wrapping his arms around the bird tighter.

"Not until you tell me what's wrong!" He said, raising his voice. "And don't try to tell me nothings wrong, because I know there is." He lowered his voice slightly, feeling guilty for being so stern with his friend. But that's how he had to operate with Rob. He wouldn't talk about anything, unless he was being absolutely forced to. So, if Wally had to be difficult with him, despite feeling bad for it later, so be it.

He could see Robin calm down consistantly, too, as his eyebrows drooped, and he looked away.

Wally sighed, picking his friend up, to guide him to the couch in the living room. He set him down, still keeping a grip around his shoulder. He could tell the boy was still very shaky, and was having a hard time keeping his balance. Seriously, other than Wally himself, Robin was always the first one to be getting out there, getting ready to face treacherous enemies. Today he was slower than usual, not to mention he had just tripped over nothing moments ago.

That was a sure sign that something was deffinately wrong.

"Don't worry about it, man, but please... we have to go..." Robin still pressed on, but he did nothing to push past Wally like he did moments ago. The ginger could tell her was loosing energy, that he was giving into the struggle, the struggle that was obvious that he needed someone. And now that someone had finally noticed he wasn't as strong as he presented himself to be, he was starting to break down.

"No, Rob." Wally said simply, and this time, Robin understood. He didn't say anything further to instigate the speedster, he simply sat there looking defeated. He sighed, his shoulders sinking as he tore off his mask., keeping his eyes to the ground.

"Talk to me." Wally said gently, as he rubbed soft circles on Robin's back. "Please." It hurt him to see his friend like this, so much.

"...Just... nightmares." Robin said, after a moment of silence. He said nothing more, and he didn't have to, because Wally understood. The boy wonder had confined to him once about these dreams, horrible, re-occuring dreams of seeing his parents fall to their death. Robin sighed again, and for a moment, Wally thought he saw tears glistening in his eyes. He wiped them away, however, never once looking up during this whole time.

He didn't have to, though. He didn't need to look at Wally, he didn't have to say a word more for the speedster to understand why Robin was so upset. So, without words himself, Wally reached out and wrapped his arms around Robin, holding him tight.

And Robin completely broke down.

He collapsed further into Wally, allowing the ginger to comfort him as tears streamed down his pale face. He had been too strong for too long, and if he was to break down in front of anyone, he was glad that it was Wally, of all people. Wally, his best friend, he understood him more than anything, the one who knew him best, the one who knew his ticks and when he was sad, and just about every little thing about him. To be held by him, to be comforted by him, just to be in the ginger's prescence, when he needed somebody the most, while his fingers ran through his short black hair, hands gently stroking his back in comfort as he whispered, "It's okay," Over and over-

That was enough to make Robin feel more at ease, if only a little.


End file.
